As Newstripe’s fourth employee when he started 32 years ago, Research & Development Manager Kory Mehrer has seen and done it all. From fabrication and welding to painting and assembly, and now product design and development, Kory has held almost every job in Newstripe’s manufacturing facility and sometimes more than one at a time. Kory’s experience, dedication, and unique approach to product development helps Newstripe keep pace with the evolving needs of its customers and ahead of the competition. He attributes the company’s product development success to four guiding principles:
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- Listen to your customers
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- Be creative & innovate constantly
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- Leverage rapid “prototype-test-learn” processes
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- Nothing leaves the shop until it’s right
When asked about his favorite Newstripe product, Kory instantly goes to the NewRider 5000, first rolled out in 2010. Kory helped lead the development of this popular riding field line striping machine and subsequent upgrades over the years. He believes it’s still the best riding line striper on the market. “I just love taking to long-time customers who bought a NewRider 5000 a decade ago and are still actively using the machine on a daily basis. They just love the product and that makes me proud,” said Kory.
When asked about the product innovation he sees in the future, Kory’s eyes light up. There’s GPS technology, stronger and lighter production materials, better manufacturing equipment, and new technologies that can make stripers more efficient and more environmentally friendly. From Kory’s perspective, the future looks very bright on the product innovation front and that means good things are on the way for Newstripe customers.
